Urban Strutters is back in the building. Benji Candelario taps straight into that golden-era NYC house DNA with Take Me Higher, a Tesser Music drop built on deep bass, cascading strings, and Masi’s sky-splitting vocal.
It’s the sound of a legacy producer reconnecting with his roots — groove first, ego nowhere in sight — while flexing the precision and instincts he’s sharpened since the Cutting Records days with Arthur Baker, Grace Jones, and New Order in the room.
With his Urban Strutters alias blazing, we caught up with Benji to talk nostalgia vs. innovation, crafting strings that hit like Salsoul fever dreams, trusting Masi’s raw demo magic, and keeping house music alive without drowning it in drops.
In my opinion I think that today there are too many drops in music…The crowd hasn’t been given a chance to just let go and feel the music…
Take Me Higher channels that golden-era NYC house spirit — what first sparked it?
Take Me higher at first was just a drum groove with a baseline over it. But it reminded me of something from my childhood. So I tried looking for it while listening to old Sal Soul and Philadelphia International records…. I never really found what the groove reminded me of but in listening to those old tunes I was inspired to create the string section to mimic that era.
Masi’s vocals are pure fire. How did that collaboration come together?
I’ve been working with Masi now for a little over 3yrs… While getting together to finish another production we had started she heard me arranging all the string parts …. She’s such a talented singer and songwriter that she penned a melody and lyrics to the groove in about 20 minutes … At first I was going to have someone else sing it but Masi’s demo vocals were so impressive that I decided to keep her on the final production…
The bassline and strings feel vintage but fresh — hardware, software, or both?
In this particular production all of the instrumentation was software based… But I tried to make the sounds that I chose sound as close to the real thing as I could.
You’ve been in the game since the ’80s — what still keeps the fire burning?
I think that my drive comes from trying to create music that first inspired me from my childhood…Figuring out concepts of how things had come together back then and trying them now but with a more modern twist.
Working with Arthur Baker and Grace Jones early on — what lessons stuck with you?
Arthur Baker was an innovator of his time…He was one of the most sought after producers of that era. So I was able to see how major productions were developed from him thinking them out loud to then having the best musicians in the studio making his idea come alive. I think that the biggest lesson I learned from him is that there are no rules as long as the end result comes out exactly the way you envisioned it.
You mix nostalgia with new-school precision — how do you find that balance?
I strongly believe that in order to make music that lasts you need to know the roots of where that sound came from…I was very fortunate to grow up when there were still bands and musicians making music…So I try to incorporate what inspired me in the past with what’s happening today. Just enough that it gives it a fresh new perspective.
Why bring Take Me Higher out under Urban Strutters now?
The Urban Strutters alias represents an untamed unpolished approach to certain music productions. It’s my alter ego to music that I just want to make because it represents a feeling that inspired me when I was just starting out. Music that in my idea is pure with no gimmicks, just a great groove.
What’s the one rule you’ve never broken when it comes to making a house?
As I mentioned earlier for me there are no rules…My attempt is always to get my point across however I can…And whatever innovative way I come up with is good by me.
When that drop hits — what do you want the crowd to feel?
In my opinion I think that today there are too many drops in music…The crowd hasn’t been given a chance to just let go and feel the music…Every few bars is another drop which to me kills the groove… What I expect from a drop is excitement not suspense…All that suspense makes people stop dancing in the wait of the drum roll and impact.
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